Killer Car Seats Sold Online!

In light of some news I just saw, I decided to write a quick little post about…online shopping…but you will also find these around places like Gumtree and Facebook selling groups.

Please STAY AWAY from these products!

I love shopping online! I really do. I come across quite a few nice deals there and I’ve done some very good bargains! BUT if there is one thing you need to be extremely careful of, it’s buying car seats online. Make sure you that if you choose to buy your car seat online – it’s from a known reputable retailer!

What am I talking about?

Killer car seats. And I’m sorry to say that I’m not over exaggerating. The fact is that if you use these car seats in the car – you are putting your child at risk. How? I’ll show you some examples of these car seats. Most of them are from Asia. They are wrongly sold under ‘car seats’ when in fact most of them are ‘booster seats for dining chairs’.

Ergo they should never ever be used in a car. They are to put a baby/child in at a table, not in a car!

Offender Number 1: Ejects Your Child

Our first offender comes under many names and colours. I’ve seen at least 15 different ones of this particular offender, but I believe one of the names it goes under is ‘YIREN’.

This product was available on Amazon.com among other sites – luckily it was taken down once Amazon realised that it has actually not been crash tested to correct standard, and should not be used in the car.

Several of the online shops selling these type of car seats will state that they have been safety tested. This is bollocks. They are not safety tested to standard– and when one example was safety tested?

This is what happened:

I hope to watch that scares you as much as it scared me – and that you will help spread awareness of these incredibly dangerous products that are floating around on the internet!

CarseatBlog.com shows us one of these products and talks about what is wrong with how it works.

Offender Number 2: Internal Damage

The other “gem” of these bogus car seats are these. They are advertised as ‘seat belt pads’ and such – but they are in fact extremely dangerous! They completely push the vehicle seat belt into the wrong position on the child (or adult!) which can be fatal in an accident as the seat belt is laying across the soft abdomen.

This causes internal damage and spinal trauma. It also places the shoulder belt incorrectly over the shoulder, which increases the risk of the child (or adult!) being flung forward hitting their head on the seat in front or dislodging them completely from the seat belt.

The above examples come in different prints and from different online retailers. They are however dangerous! And should never be worn by neither a child or an adult! I can’t stress this enough. As I explained above these products place the vehicle seat belt incorrectly on your child’s body increasing the risk of internal bleeding, damage, spinal injury and more:

CHOP drawing of lap belt riding too high into abdomen and over hip bones

If you see this product in use? Make the owner aware!!

This is the correct seat belt placement, and children under 150cm tall should be using a high back booster, or a booster cushion if the high back booster no longer fits:

I hope this post clarifies why this is so dangerous – and I hope you will help me spread awareness by sharing.

Therese has completed the ‘Advanced Child Car Seat Training Course’ at TRL (Transport Research Lab) and is a CPD accredited car seat expert. She blogs about in-car safety, car seats, tips, reviews, giveaways and advice. She’s a mum on a mission to change the law and raise awareness. She is also a breastfeeding advocate and gentle parenting promoter who loves cloth nappies, baby-wearing, BLW and co-sleeping/bed-sharing.